DESCRITPION: (Investigator's Abstract) The overall objective of this project is to study the molecular mechanisms by which the naturally occuring polyamines, spermidine and spermine, regulate growth gene transcription in human cancer. This proposal seeks to elucidate the mechanism(s) by which the polyamines can influence c-myc transcription by (1) determining the structure-function relationships for polyamines and their interaction with c-myc transcription; (2) exploring how the polyamines specifically influence the chromatin structure and protein binding to the c-myc gene; and (3) examining the role of polyamines in modulation of c-myc transcription in a cell free in vitro transcription system.